Spring - Season of Extremes

Although Scotland's iconic Highlands are harsh to live in due to seasons and more, they teem with prospering wildlife. Seas, 'lochs' (lakes, Ness containing more water the all lakes in England in Wales) and rivers, rich in fish, form the basis of an affluent food pyramid on top of which is the fish eagle, breeding in between migration from and back to West Africa, in time to feast on the salmon returning to its native breeding grounds. Fish-eaters also include otters and dippers which nest in cavities by the bustling rivers, but when melting snow makes them rise wildly, young must be hastily leave, ready to fly or not. On land, owls rather feeds on the abundant rodents, as do weasel family-members like the stoat, whose stamina suffices to outrun a rabbit. Squirrels acrobatically feed and nest in high trees, while deer fawns must hide until strong enough to run with mother. Written by KGF Vissers